scholarly journals BURNS IN PRACTICE OF HELICOPTER EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE IN POLAND. RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS

2019 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. 500-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patryk Rzońca ◽  
Piotr Tomaka ◽  
Robertn Gałązkowski

Introduction: Burns are a huge problem for public health and a challenge for healthcare systems all around the world. They are responsible for 180.000 deaths worldwide each year. In order to ensure high quality treatment and rehabilitation of these patients burn centres are established in many countries. Another vital factor influencing the prognosis of patients with burns is quick transport that in many countries, including Poland is carried out by Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS). The aim: To describe the operations carried out by HEMS with particular stress put on the target medical facility. Materials and methods: The research was conducted with the method of retrospective analysis of operations performed by HEMS crews. All missions from January 2011 to December 2018 were included in the study and 2534 cases were qualified for the final analysis. Results: The study group was predominantly male (72.72%) aged 18 years old and less (36.65%). Nearly two thirds of the patients were transported to hospitals with a burn ward (61.88%). Opioid analgesics as well as crystalloids were the most commonly administered drugs (respectively 68.55% and 64.76%). Statistical analysis showed that HEMS arrival time (20.77 minutes vs 18.60 minutes) and duration of the transport to designated hospital (40.11 minutes vs 19.66 minutes) were significantly higher in the cases of deciding to transport the patient to the hospital with the burns department (p<0.001). Conclusions: Presented results showed that HEMS crews are more often assigned to help ground-based Medical Rescue Teams in case of patients who required treatment in burn centres. Moreover, the time and distance to the hospital with burn ward was significantly longer compared to other healthcare facilities. This confirms that the assigning of HEMS crews for the patients with severe burns was reasonable.

Author(s):  
Patryk Rzońca ◽  
Stanisław Paweł Świeżewski ◽  
Rakesh Jalali ◽  
Joanna Gotlib ◽  
Robert Gałązkowski

The aim of the study was to identify the characteristics of missions performed by HEMS (Helicopter Emergency Medical Service) crews and the analysis of health problems, which are the most common cause of intervention in rural areas in Poland. The study was conducted using a retrospective analysis based on the medical records of patients provided by the HEMS crew, who were present for the emergencies in rural areas in the period from January 2011 to December 2018. The final analysis included 37,085 cases of intervention by HEMS crews, which accounted for 54.91% of all the missions carried out in the study period. The majority (67.4%) of patients rescued were male, and just under a quarter of those rescued were aged between 50–64 years. Injuries (51.04%) and cardiovascular diseases (36.49%) were the main diagnoses found in the study group. Whereas injuries were significantly higher in the male group and patients below 64 years of age, cardiovascular diseases were higher in women and elderly patients (p < 0.001). Moreover, in the group of women myocardial infarction was significantly more frequent (30.95%) than men, while in the group of men head injuries (27.10%), multiple and multi-organ injuries (25.93%), sudden cardiac arrest (14.52%), stroke (12.19%), and epilepsy (4.95%) was significantly higher. Factors that are associated with the most common health problems of rural patients are: gender and age, as well as the seasons of the year and the values of the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), Revised Trauma Score (RTS), and National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) used to assess the clinical status of patients.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
RJ Moors Xavier ◽  
B Oude Alink Michelle ◽  
JM Bouman Stef ◽  
Dennis Den Hartog ◽  
Jan Houmes Robert ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Heidi Kangasniemi ◽  
Piritta Setälä ◽  
Heini Huhtala ◽  
Antti Kämäräinen ◽  
Ilkka Virkkunen ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Making ethically sound treatment limitations in prehospital care is a complex topic. Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) physicians were surveyed on their experiences with limitations of care orders in the prehospital setting, including situations where they are dispatched to healthcare facilities or nursing homes. Methods A nationwide multicentre study was conducted among all HEMS physicians in Finland in 2017 using a questionnaire with closed five-point Likert-scale questions and open questions. The Ethics Committee of the Tampere University Hospital approved the study protocol (R15048). Results Fifty-nine (88%) physicians responded. Their median age was 43 (IQR 38–47) and median medical working experience was 15 (IQR 10–20) years. All respondents made limitation of care orders and 39% made them often. Three fourths (75%) of the physicians were often dispatched to healthcare facilities and nursing homes and the majority (93%) regularly met patients who should have already had a valid limitation of care order. Every other physician (49%) had sometimes decided not to implement a medically justifiable limitation of care order because they wanted to avoid conflicts with the patient and/or the next of kin and/or other healthcare staff. Limitation of care order practices varied between the respondents, but neither age nor working experience explained these differences in answers. Most physicians (85%) stated that limitations of care orders are part of their work and 81% did not find them especially burdensome. The most challenging patient groups for treatment limitations were the under-aged patients, the severely disabled patients and the patients in healthcare facilities or residing in nursing homes. Conclusion Making limitation of care orders is an important but often invisible part of a HEMS physician’s work. HEMS physicians expressed that patients in long-term care were often without limitations of care orders in situations where an order would have been ethically in accordance with the patient’s best interests.


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